FAWM: "Hope"

Hope

Liner Notes

So number one FAWM. I really wanted to start off with something that sent a message of hope to myself and to others. its been a tough old time for many friends recently, and a bloody tough time for the world right now, and there is a lot of despair and hopelessness. However, whilst we may despair at others, and have a justified fear of the dark times, my heart always tells me, there's more than hope,there's hope with action from so many like minded souls, and call me weird (i am to many around here ;-) ) but something tells me 2025 is going to be an uplifting year despite the terror and darkness and may seem to have been plonked on us.
Anyway, i not overly happy with the vocals, and spent all day determined to get track 1 up on feb 1st.
So here's a simplistic anthem of sorts that made me smile a little inside at the end ;-)

Its a bloody joy to be back with FAWM in my little crappy self created studio, and also to be so excited and expanded by all you amazing FAWMERS, so here' s a little opener along those lines.

LOVE TO YA ALL

#singersongwriter #anthem #upbeat #indiepop #ballad #harmonies #uplifting #fullproduction

Lyrics

Oh i hope, the sun will rise today
Oh i hope, bird song comes my way
As the rivers flow, will our clouds roll on by
so i hope, you feel it deep inside

Oh i know, Beating dark drums surround
Oh i know, spreading fear all around
so to feel the point of hopelessness inside
is to grow, and see the varnished lie

If you feel the heartbreak from the deep
then you'll see....
broken vases rebuilt from the voice still unseen

I know, something better will arrive
feel the soul, yearn to lighten up a life
when the fear is gone and seeds produce release
then i hope
you'll be there
i know
we could find a care
and glow
floating out to sea (see)

Comments

@majordanby 2w

Genius. An epic anthem to start FAWM. Loved the stripped back star, and then it just builds and builds. Legendary.

@paulharrison 2w

Very nice job all around on this...encouraging and uplifting, musically and lyrically, well produced...congratulations!

@johnstaples 2w

Hey Karl, this is beautiful! I stopped by and saw Hope on your page. And I damn sure need some these days! I love, Love, LOVE the message in your brilliant lyrics! You acknowledge the darkness but remind us of the light! And we desperately need that reminder! The music is stellar and fits the message oh so perfectly! And I really love your passionate vocals! We can hear the sincerity in your voice. In your words. In your song! Thank you for Hope!

@susyblue 2w

Dreamy, wistful yet hopeful. What an epic progression throughout. All the vocals n production sound amazing, enjoy that studio!

@haim 2w

what a sweet voice and singing. beautiful melody. you bring a lot of emotion to the words with your voice here, and the background vocals are great. it's not a secret karl that i like your voice, but i really enjoyed listening to you singing this. great message.

@acousticmaddie 2w

Oh a bit of a Simon and Garfunkel feeling as well as a classic Karl. Very well flowing. Love this.

@briggs 2w

Wow! Great production. Really knocked me back! I like your vocals too; nothing to be unhappy about there. I totally get the Oasis vibe that @daveyboy103 mentioned. Thanks for sharing, and for your encouraging comments in other forums re songwriting.

@the3queens 2w

Oh I love this! Such a great song to wake up to. Thanks I needed it. Well-produced with all the back up vox and layers. I especially like the guitar lick in the bridge. Even though it's buried in all the lush layers, it jumped out at me. ""broken vases rebuilt from the voice still unseen" and YES " something better WILL arrive!"

@mikedebenham 2w

Always love your huge soaring arrangements, mate. Great to see you back. Lovely melodies. And I'm with you - pessimism's getting a bit tiresome, time for a bit of hope.

@jibbidy34 2w

Ah the sweet sound of your indie guitars and souring vocals. This tune comes radio ready! So SO good. I've listened to it twice already. So much better than most of Oasis' songs!

@nancihobson1 2w

Wow. Excellent song here, right off from the start, it's so beautiful and uplifting. I love the vocals too, they sound perfect to me! Awesome chords, the way they work together, gives me goosebumps!

@dreamscuba 2w

Very uplifting. I love the keyboards and vocals. Really polished. An old school vibe to this, nice. A solid start to FAWM.

@musicsongwriter 2w

Wonderful song of hope, sunshine, love and kindness. A great pleasure to listen to your song, gorgeous vocals and playing. So exciting and inspiring. I love your harmonies, harmonization, change of the key, the atmosphere. Everything is a treat to listen to.

@judypie 2w

It’s giving me polyphonic spree and I LOVE it! Shimmering gorgeous loveliness! I am way too pessimistic to see anything good on the horizon.. but this song ALMOST made me believe.. I think I need a second listen 😁 It’s SO good Karl ❤️

@bradbrubaker 2w

It has a Madchester-meets-Flaming Lips feel to me, which is to say it the narrator here is a cool cucumber with a cosmic sense of how very large the universe is and how very small we are in it.

@vomvorton 3w

God I wish I had as much optimism / hope as this song does! But I loved spending a few minutes of escapism with it all the same, the dreamy soundscape and layered harmonies are sweet as can be.

@paul_pedersen 3w

Great song, Karlos, an anthem for our time. I particularly like how the arrangement builds as the song progresses.

@freshspotlessyouth 3w

This one soars. I love the vocal and the overall ambience. And then you kick it up a notch with the backing vocals. Magical

@jorh 3w

Very much enjoy how you draw out the length of the words at the start of the verses - it feels like a calling to feel hopeful too, like we have no choice but to smile. Fantastic build at the end as well with some awesome harmonies - give it that classic ballad feeling with a choral like quality. Enjoyed this one a lot :)

@balancelost 3w

Love the sunny, blissed-out vibes in this one. The laid back groove is satisfyingly in the pocket, and the finale made me set the fire alarm off in my living room.

@arcane 3w

Uplifting, indeed. Actually, it's absolutely perfect in that it's both super comforting and amazingly produced. Somehow glorious and epic, but not pretentious. Really well done.

@engebretsen 3w

You are in a liga of you`re own! Beautiful melody and voice. I really wish that the world would experience you`re music.

@afterschoolclub 3w

Lots of classic Karl trademark elements at play here - most notably the gradual build to crescendo! A couple of unexpected chord changes in there that I really liked (on ‘our clouds’ and later on ‘from the voice still unseen’). Great opener!

@cts 3w

Beautiful production and I appreciate this message of hope in a world that is constantly in flux. I don't hear too many songs like this currently and maybe it's not realistic to expect to, but here's a miracle of sorts I can appreciate.

@jackdawfactories 3w

This is really great, a lovely lush production and a great vocal on top of classic pop sensibilities. Very chill.

@thedutchwidows 3w

The melody on "Oh I hope" is so, so good. Everything sounds great, a really nice mix, nice musication and vocals are on point, especially the backing vocals, which really lift in all the right places.

@nadine 3w

You really nail the 60s vibe. The backing vocal arrangement is so smooth. Thanks for sending positive vibes

@daveyboy103 3w

Amen to hope, boy we certainly need it. I love your vocal tone, so rich.

An almost Oasis feel to this, picture Liam Gallagher singing this? You see what I mean.

@frenchcricket 3w

I saw a video the other day that said ‘optimism is punk’ and I’m ready to buy into that. Lovely reminder, and those gorgeous harmonies feel like a cloud breaking to let the sun in.

@davidtaro 3w

Definitely has that classic Karl vibe. Feels wonderfully wide and full in my headphones. I'm trying to unpick the various textures and finding I can't, there's too damn many 😆. Personally, I'm loving the vocal - it's quite nicely snuggled into the mix, and when those massive Polyphonic Spree BVs kick in, well it's glorious mate! I hope that your sense of hope is justified, and tbh I think it's just very heart-warming that you have it in the first place.

@rowankingsbury 3w

Okay, I love this. This was needed. Love the lyrics, the instrumental, the vocals, the vibe. Everything about it. I did a little groovy dance even. Great stuff!

@adforperu 3w

Ohh, so you don't actually have to be in exotic sunny faraway lands to bring the uplifting, sunny vibes. Can hear so much heart behind this one, those backing vocals are giving me huge Beach Boys feels

@andread 3w

I could not help but smile when your song began playing on my speakers. I particularly liked the melodic line and lyrics "from the voice still unseen." Thank you for this...It's the first song I've heard for FAWM 2025 and it's exactly what I needed.